Do you think the Army is wrong for their plan to shred over 360 OH-58 Kiowas when the Special Forces just bought back the OV-10 Bronco?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:50:43 -0400

This recon helicopter has Forward Looking Infrared Radar and some HD daytime optics to see the enemy day or night. We can keep these Kiowas in storage for use later or keep them flying and give them to our allies. If we brought back two old OV-10 Bronco from the Vietnam era, why can't we just keep the Kiowas for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or give them to our allies or local law enforcement?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2016 8:53 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:53:29 -0400

Shredding any aircraft is heartbreaking, and makes little to no sense to me. They could sit at AMARG sealed like the other aircraft till someone else wants them. I do know this, there were issues with cracks in some pertinent support members in the tail boom, which sped up some of the turn in processes for some units, so that may be why they are getting shredded instead of kept. We've already turned a bunch into range fodder at places like FT Bliss

Response by CPL Patrick Brewbaker made Jun 18 at 2016 9:06 PM

CPL Patrick Brewbaker — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:06:42 -0400

I loved the ov-10s. We had them in 2nd MAW MAG 29 at New River MCAS. But I'd hate to see a mess of helps get destroyed.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Jun 18 at 2016 9:19 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:19:03 -0400

Who are we to question the judgement of our "betters"? Perched in the aeries, don't they have a grander view of the whole issue and are thus better able to make these decisions? Surely, their ability to prevail in the political fray which took them to those seats of power, grants them wisdom, doesn't it? As to specific examples of poor decisions, I have no particular value to add to this discussion, only doubt and snark bred of decades of watching waste and mismanagement.

Response by SSG Roger Ayscue made Jun 18 at 2016 9:19 PM

SSG Roger Ayscue — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:19:35 -0400

Far be it for me to criticize or question Big Army. I think that the Army tends to have too many Good Idea Fairies running amok with no control exercised upon them.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Jun 18 at 2016 9:54 PM

Capt Tom Brown — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:54:47 -0400

Which aircraft replaced the OV10? Would like to read the rationale of why the replacement is so much better.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 18 at 2016 10:26 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 22:26:40 -0400

LTC Private RallyPoint Member I think we should keep the OH-58 Kiowa's which are in great maintenance condition and dispose of those which are not unless the maintenance requirements are cost efficient for helicopters in mid-to-long term storage. If nothing else some of these birds could be used for anti-aircraft system range practice as they are slung well below aircraft.
I think you may have meant to use OV-10 instead of F-35 for your section option in this survey.

Response by SSG Steven Mangus made Jun 19 at 2016 8:08 AM

SSG Steven Mangus — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 08:08:03 -0400

As a 15S for 20 years action was duty and coincidentally 4 years civil service with the Kiowa WRA project at CCAD, I can say this "we, the OH-58D community did more with less than any other weapons platform in use." I truly don't think the AH-64 can live up to the challenge. Out Front!!

Response by MSgt Daniel Attilio made Jun 19 at 2016 9:01 AM

MSgt Daniel Attilio — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 09:01:27 -0400

I remember watching these Buzz around Camp Pendleton in the 90s.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Jun 19 at 2016 9:06 AM

Capt Tom Brown — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 09:06:29 -0400

Every time I need an adrenaline rush I watch this video.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jun 19 at 2016 5:29 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 17:29:11 -0400

I love classics like the above airframe. If it can still be used, use it. I'm a geek, I like technology but when do you stop throwing money at a project not matter how cool and how new and say this just isn't working.

Response by Steve Wrona made Jun 23 at 2016 1:49 PM

Steve Wrona — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:49:25 -0400

These birds could be quite useful to state guards for doing damage assessment & search (and rescue?) after large-scale disasters.